My earliest reading memory
When I was about eight I was asked to read a book to a class of younger children to keep them quiet, but I couldn’t read, so I held up a book and made up a story. When we moved to Paris I began to think I might never be able to read. Then I remember driving through London at night when we came home for a visit. My big sister and I kept shouting out the names of the shops because they were in English, and I could finally read them.
My favourite book growing up
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I loved the sanctimoniousness, the antiracism, the slam-dunk lawyering and the overalls. I actually tried to introduce “hey” as a greeting at school but didn’t have the social cachet to make it happen. I reread it so often I had edit suggestions.
